McSenegal? (by Thom)

Other possible titles for this blog post: "Bookkeeping is fun", "We're Moving" and "Hey, are you ever going to tell us what your big news is?"
The big reveal time is here! We're going to be leaving Mali, but staying in Africa. For right now we'll just lay out the facts and we'll share more about what has led up to this later. Since arriving in Africa I've been the bookkeeper for the Mali field of the C&MA. After spending the week before last in Dakar, Senegal in training I'm now also the bookkeeper for the Senegal field and I'll be taking over the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) bookkeeping in July. For now I'm doing all this bookkeeping from the Mali office in Bamako but starting next year I'll be working as part of the Africa Regional Office in Dakar. We were scheduled to return to the US February 15-June 1, 2009 as our regular furlough but with the move happening we'll be pushing everything up a month. That means we'll be stateside Jan 15-May 1, 2009, leaving from Bamako and returning directly to Dakar. Honestly, I don't think we could be more excited about this. We don't mean to criticize Bamako or Mali in any way but Dakar is a much more modern city and we're excited about the opportunities we'll be able to provide our girls that will be there, especially a great boarding school (where they won't have to board!).
On the downside, we won't be able to move our Jeep to Senegal because of their vehicle importation laws. That means we'll need to raise funds again to purchase a car. We'll share more about that shortly. Please be praying for us in this time of transition as well as for the missionary team here, in Senegal, and for our vehicle fund. Thanks!
Oh, in case you're wondering: McSenegal doesn't have that "snappiness" that McMali has, so I don't think the name is going anywhere. Besides, our daughters will be little McMalians no matter where we live!

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From the Mouth of Hannah (by Thom)

Last night we were at the dinner table. Hannah was being unusually quiet and Amanda and I both looked over at her to see what was going on. She seemed lost in thought, like she was unraveling the mysteries of the universe by twirling her fork in her hand.
Suddenly, she looked up, scanned the table and pointed at me. "Dada", she declared confidently. Then her finger moved to Amanda, "Mama". Next she pointed to Miriam and said "Mo-mo". Finally, she jabbed herself with her finger and said, "Na-na". After making the rounds she nodded her head up and down twice and smiled big, as if she had taught us all something we needed to know.
It was a beautiful thing and she actually did teach us something. We had never considered nicknaming Miri "Mo-mo". We're trying to decide if it should stick.

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Praising Him Through the Storms (by Amanda)

I have been going each week to the Centre Rahab hoping to learn and maybe help a little with Carina’s work with Prostitutes and the disenfranchised people in Bamako, but I am beginning to believe that the blessings I am receiving from them far outweighs anything I have given in return. Let me just give a brief description of what Centre Rahab does. It was started by Carina Saarloos, a Dutch missionary here, as an outreach which counsels prostitutes and widows. It is a training center for the women to learn a trade. The most important thing that the Center does is give them a clear understanding of who Christ is and then continues to teach and mentor them so they can grow in their walk with God.

Each Friday morning the women who work there are required to go to a Bible study. Recently Carina has asked that one woman a week would give her testimony to the group and so far two women have spoken and they have been wonderful. I am going to share with you Louise’s testimony as best as I can translate it. Louise is in her mid 30’s and has lived a lifetime of sorrows. She started her story with getting married at age 19. Her and her husband had three children which either died soon after birth or were born stillborn. Then her husband died. Soon after this she became a Christian. A few years later she remarried and had another baby which, praise the Lord, lived. I do not know the exact time line but her second husband got sick and because they had no money and no food to eat he died. She was left with just her son. In the village they called her a sorcerer because all the things in her hands had died. It continued to get worse: her son, who was four at the time, got sick and also died. Since she had no one left she went to her parents but they would not accept her and called her a crazy lady. So Louise came to Bamako to live with her little sister. She was put in contact with a missionary at the Magnambougou church and eventually was guided to talk with Carina who began counseling her and brought her into the Rahab work program. So she stood at the front of the room and praised God because He had spared her life and brought her to a place were she could work and provide for herself.

Her story brought me to tears; with everything that happened she still came out praising God. Don’t get me wrong - she did go through times of discouragement and depression but by the grace of God she still managed to come out praising Christ. I share this story for three reasons: One - it touched me deeply. Two - because I hope it will touch you deeply, and three - because I want you to pray. Pray for these women who have been through so many trials. Pray that God will heal them and that He will give them the desires of their hearts. Pray for this ministry that it will be able to grow and become an outreach to more women and pray for Carina as she organizes the ministry.

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